1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to truss spacers which are used at building sites for rigidly interconnecting adjacent trusses and producing uniform spacing between a series of trusses which are oriented parallel to each other.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A prior art method for obtaining uniform spacing between adjacent trusses is to nail 1".times.2" wood strips between adjacent trusses as they are being erected at the building site to maintain uniform spacing. The use of wood strips requires the use of fasteners at the construction site to attach the strips between adjacent trusses. After the strips are nailed on top of the trusses they must be removed before the roofing or other materials are applied.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,959,945 discloses the use of roof truss spacers each of which is nailed by a single nail to either the top and the bottom of the truss at a manufacturing site. By using only a single nail to attach the spacer, the spacer can be pivoted with respect to the truss. At the manufacturing site of the truss, the spacers are rotated to be parallel to the longitudinal axis of the truss when transporting the truss. At the time of erection of the truss at the construction site, the spacers are rotated to be orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the truss to which they are attached. When each spacer is rearranged so as to be orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the truss, the spacer is nailed to the adjacent truss, again by a single nail, to maintain uniform spacing between the adjacent trusses. The free end of each of the spacers may be either nailed to the adjacent truss at the same longitudinal position as another spacer which is nailed to the adjacent truss or they may be longitudinally offset with respect thereto. The section of the spacer extending between the adjacent trusses has an "L" shaped cross-section. The spacing members may be left in place after the installation of the roof sheeting or decking to the trusses. Spacing between adjacent trusses is maintained by the length of the downwardly extending leg. Such spacers in accordance with this U.S. Pat. No. 3,959,945 fail to provide adequate rigid structural support between adjacent truss members. In addition, the difference between the length of the respective legs of the spacer prevents the manufacture of the spacer from a rectangular blank of metal and necessitates the use of more intricately shaped metal blanks and wastes metal in comparison to spacers formed from a single rectangular blank. Various types of elongated metal connecting members are currently being used in constructing both roof trusses and floor trusses, or joists. Such metal connecting members are being used in place of some of the wooden members. Examples of such metal connecting members are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,025,577 and 3,298,151 to Jureit and 4,078,352 to Knowles as well as the commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 337,671 entitled TRUSS STRUCTURES CONSTRUCTED WITH METAL WEB MEMBERS and filed Jan. 7, 1982.